News Report

The first televised news material is from the CNN network. The program is Newsroom by anchor Donald Carlton Lemon on 12th February 2013. The lead story is on North Korea conducting a third nuclear test. The program analyzes seismic activity experienced near a North Korean. It provides evidence of the nuclear test from the statement released by the Pyongyang government saying it carried out the nuclear test. Furthermore, it is considered that these nuclear tests should equip it strike the United State or any of its strategic partners such as South Korea.

The show analyzed previous times the regime had tried to carry out nuclear tests. The previous launch was on April 12, 2012 when it tried to launch a rocket to space. The rocket Unha-3 took off for space shortly but experienced technical difficulties and had to come down. It failed to launch it to space at the time. The body charged with launching it, the DPRK admits to the suspicions. Thus, the rocket it was feared could be used to launch nuclear bombs from outer space to strike its enemies such as the United States.

 

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Japan reported the seismic activity since not the normal ones caused by an earthquake, therefore, suspecting it could be due to North Korea conducting a third nuclear test. It is reported that the United States’ Defense Department believed the country conducted a nuclear test in the north east region of the country. Moreover, it is the area they had used to conduct previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. The magnitude of the artificial earthquake experienced is 5.0 with the regime suspected of a having a nuclear bomb weighing 10 tons.

The material is newsworthy since the reporter is subjective basing her lead story on evidence such as the seismic activity. The news are verifiable since North Korea government admitted carrying out the nuclear test. However, it is not enough to rely on the statement alone since the regime is known to issue false statements such as in the past. Therefore, it was necessary to find out further details such as what material was used to make the bomb whether plutonium or uranium. On a scale of 5, I rate the material at 4 since threat to the world security is essential.

The second news material is from the BBC Global World News on 14th February 2013. The news reporter is Nick Ericsson of BBC Africa channel. The lead story is about Oscar Pistorius, the world Olympic and Paralympic champion shooting and killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. It is reported that Oscar shot his girlfriend 4 times through the bathroom door. He releases a statement defending himself that he shot thinking it was a burglar and not his girlfriend.

Oscar Pistorius was arrested at his house in Pretoria, South Africa by the police. He was to appear in court the next day to plead to first degree murder and possession of firearms charges. Preliminary, the police do tests on the athlete in order to determine factors such as the alcohol level since it was suspected that he was drunk when the incident occurred.

The news material also explores the emotional attachments his fans had on him. For example, he inspired a sense of belief in others since he did not only want to be viewed as a Paralympic athlete but also as an individual who could compete on the same stage with other athletes. It also explores the commercial backlash due to the scandal. Oscar Pistorius had sponsorship deals such as promotion of Nike's products and even with a South African television station promotion of the Oscars. Most of the sponsors withdraw their sponsorships citing negative publicity. Also, the material explores claim in the social media that Pistorius’ billboards along a South African highway had been pulled down in reaction to the scandal.

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The report explores subjectively all the angles on the incident. It provides information on how it occurred as well as the consequences of the scandal. However, the report does not fully explore the details of the event as it occurred. I rate it as 3.5 since it provides most the information. However, it fails to give verified information on the backlash from some of the sponsors of the athlete.

The third material is on the Bradley Manning pre-trial from RT America on 28^th February 2013. The news anchor is Liz Wahl. The lead story is on the army private, Bradley Manning, who had leaked classified information to the WikiLeaks website. The 25 year old admitted guilt in 10 of the 22 charges leveled against him. The soldier had been in custody for 1000 days without trial after his involvement with the site was proved. On the 28th of February 2013, during a pre-trial hearing he admitted committing 10 of the 22 charges he faced. Moreover, he admitted that he provided the site with 250,000 diplomatic cables and other information. Andrew Blake, a web producer with RT, joins anchor Liz Wahl to discuss some of the details on the case. The pre-trial proceedings were at Fort Meade where the media had continuously protested the lack of release of information on the case. The presiding judge, Colonel Denise Lind and other judges in the case previous ruling had not been published before due to failure to release the information. However, the pentagon had published 84 files the previous day facilitating trial of the case. Also, the media were allowed to attend the proceedings, but the information was not accessible to the public since it was not published yet. Trials are scheduled to begin on 3rd June 2013 when the army officer will be able to defend himself against the charges. His admittance to 10 of the 22 charges against him will grant him a speedy trial. The news lead story is subjective in the sense that it analyzes it critically. It presents the information in a simple and chronological manner. I rate it at 4. It is for a reason that it provides all the important information in the story without bias.

The 4th material is CBS Evening News by Scott Pelley from the CBS network on March 4, 2013. The lead story is on a rare tornado that hit the northern part of Italy. The tornado left a wave of destruction to property in the villages. Moreover, the tornado injured 11 people in the region. The tornado was sudden since no one anticipated it as such occurrences are rare in the northern part of Italy. The story uses an amateur video of the tornado to show how the tornado hit the villages in the northern part of Italy. It destroyed buildings and general infrastructure in the three villages of the region. Debris flew everywhere as a result of the tornado causing injuries to at least 11 people. However, it did not result in injuries that would result in fatalities since wounds were not too serious. Nevertheless, the damages were massive since most of infrastructure in the region was damaged. The tornadoes ravaged the region causing mayhem and panic for the period because it is not a usual occurrence in the region. Therefore, it was not anticipated. The local people were not prepared for the storm resulting in the many injuries sustained. I rate the news lead story at 5. It is for a reason that it provides all the details of how the storm occurred and also captured the damages to property and infrastructure in the villages. In addition, it touches the critical issue of climate change that leads to unpredictable weather patterns in the world. Such unpredictable and harsh weather patterns leave damages and fatalities in areas that never used to experience such scenarios.

The fifth material is from RT America on the 15th of April 2013. The news host is Liz Wahl of the RT America network. The lead story is the Boston marathon bombing that left 3 dead and 170 others injured. There were two blasts near the finish line of the marathon. The bombs were set to go off 12 seconds apart near the 42km finish line. The marathon turned to panic scenes as people scrambled for safety. Among those killed during the attack is an eight year old child who had come to watch the marathon. The two explosions went off near the finish line of the 42 kilometer race. Many of the injured people sustained serious injuries and were left waiting for help from the medics. The explosions occurred at 2.50 pm local time as participants continued with the race. The injured were rushed to the nearest medical centers to receive urgent medical attention. The injuries included some losing their limbs since others sustained injuries to various parts of their bodies. The sidewalks near the finish line of the 42 km were covered with blood because victims lay on top each other unable to run for safety. There were over half a million people from about 50 nations that attended the marathon. The lead story identifies that the police had not yet released information whether it was a terrorist attack or not. They had also not apprehended any suspects nor link it to any terrorism group. In the report is an interview with Janet Napolitano the United States Homeland Security secretary. She says that there were no leads to suggest that the bombings were part of grand plans of a series of bombings. I rate the lead story report at 5 since the report presents all the important information in a comprehensive way. It also provides specifics such as the number of blasts, race, time and the number of fatalities and injuries sustained.

The sixth program is Amanpour from the CNN network on April 24, 2013. The news anchor is Christian Amanpour. The lead story is on fragile relations between Japan and China over disputed islands. On the day, the Chinese government sent more ships to the disputed highland citing a need to monitor activities of the Japanese on the island. The Japanese members of parliament had visited a shrine respecting those who had given up their lives for Japan. This was to signify the readiness to defend their country. The shrines serve as an emblem of aggressive periods in the history of the country, for example, when countries such as China and South Korea suffered in the hands of the Japanese military. The Chinese government dispatched eight ships to the disputed islands according to the Japanese coast guard. This is the largest number of ships to enter the disputed region since the crisis began last year. Furthermore, the Chinese government released a statement citing that ships monitored activities of activists from Japan. A Japanese nationalist group had dispatched vessels to ship activists to the disputed island known as senkaku. The islands are disputed among three Asian countries Japan, China and South Korea. Despite new governments in Japan and China expressing their willingness to settle the dispute amicably, recent relations had deteriorated according to the International Crisis Group. The need for the two countries to work out a solution to the problem is emphasized in the news report. Earlier tensions over the islands were damaging because both countries suffered as companies suffered losses as a result of the tensions. Planes and ships from both countries continued to fly and sail near the islands that would result in aggression each wanting to intimidate the other. Therefore, the ships are an indication of the increasing tensions between the two countries. I rate the news report at 5. The report is comprehensive. It is not biased since it analyzes opinions of various stakeholders and professionals to present the story. It also establishes the credibility of the information in the report from sources such as the International Crisis Group and other bodies such as Japanese coast guard.

The televised newscast is CBS Evening News by Scott Pelley on the CBS network. The material is retrieved on the 4th of May 2013. The lead story is on the California wild fires that have come earlier than usual. Over 2000, firefighters battled the fire in an effort to control it. This is in an effort to protect home owners from the blaze.

To battle the fire successfully is not an easy task because it needs tactics and plans to achieve. This is explained by Scott a fireman who has served in the fire department for 30 years. The report starts by giving the statistics of the amount of fires that have hit California state. There were 680 state fires, which is 200 more than the usual average. To save the homes affected by the wildfires, preparedness of the fire department is crucial. Tougher laws had to be in place this year to combat the fires. Such laws are the total clearance of bushes and brushes around the fire. The benefits of this are that it gives the fire fighters advantage in controlling the wildfires. Also, among the laws emphasized are the arrival times of the firefighters. The firefighter and trucks arrived early to combat the fires before they spread. The reporter, Carter Evans explains how this preparedness was vital to none of the home owners losing their homes although the fires this year were more intense and with high velocity. All the 4000 homes that were exposed to the blaze were undamaged. The report ends with a message of gratitude to firefighters from the home owners. It also gives information on the progress of the firefighters. The wildfires are 80% controlled at the time of the report. I rate the report at 4. It is for a reason that the report covers all aspects of the effects of the fire problem. However, it ignores small bits such as the effects of the fires to the environment.

The program is CBS This Morning by Amanda Cochran on the CBS network on April 25, 2013 at 10.19 am. The lead story addresses air controllers’ work strike due to budget cuts at the FAA. The report aims at addressing whether there is a plan to get the striking workers back to work. Senator Elizabeth Warren joins news anchor Amanda Cochran to discuss the budget cuts. She is against sequestration where programs such as the Headstart program and meals on wheels for seniors programs as non-deserving of the budget cuts. The senator suggests to congress to look at other available offers for achieving the budget cuts. She also suggests closing of loopholes for tax evasion and tax fraud for corporations. The tax collected from the corporations can then be an alternative to sequestration. She is against sequestration because it proposes cuts across the board and has little flexibility. Congress had earlier passed the cuts in order to avoid an impending fiscal cliff. Because of the above reasons, she proposes to get rid of the law to allow workers such as air traffic controllers to get back to work. In conclusion, the senator discusses how she is helping the victims of the Boston marathon bombing. Through talks of the fund established to help the victims of the bombing; moreover, they should be assisted in the long-term and not just during media coverage. She proposes togetherness to help the Boston attack victims. I rate the news report at 4. The report starts by showing an address by Sen. Elizabeth Warren comforting the Boston marathon bombing victims. It also addresses the tight budget cuts as a result of the sequestration. However, the report ignores the main story on budget cuts to address another story on the Boston marathon bombings. This reduces the impact of the main story on the program.

The tenth televised newscast is from RT America news by Liz Wahl on February 9, 2013. The top story is on massive blizzard that hit the northeast of United States. The storm killed nine people and brought to stop vital services in the region. The citizens of the area were without power due to a nuclear power plant shutdown. The weather also cause massive flight cancellations and the declaration of an emergency in five states, in the U.S. The storm referred to Nemo hit the east coast when 96.5 centimeters of snow fell in the areas. The states in which the state of emergency was declared are Connecticut, New York, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The blizzard, caused power outages, for example, in New York alone 700,000 homes were without power. Also, vital roads were closed by the snow while flight cancellations were massive.

Among those who died is a boy as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in Boston, Massachusetts while trying to keep warm in the car. There were also other casualties in other states that the storm hit. Winds were reported to reach over 60 kilometers per hour. This led to weather experts to predict hurricane-force gusts reaching up to 97 kilometers per hour since the weather worsened. The U.S. National Weather Service issued a warning that the weather was bound to get worse as two storms joined. The result would be a storm like never seen before on the east coast. The weather brought to halt the areas it hit including the effect of power cuts to the neighborhoods. The need to keep warm in the areas where that experienced the power cuts is vital. I rate the lead story at 5. This is due to the importance of knowledge on safety methods and precautions for the people affected by the storm. The report explores all the perspectives from weather experts such as the U.S. National Weather Service. It also covers all the areas affected without bias giving the amount of snow that fell and fatalities experienced.

The televised newscast program is CBS This Morning by Richard Schlesinger on the CBS network on February 22, 2013. The lead story is on the resignation of Pope Benedict and leakage of a negative publicity file to the media. The report contains allegations of fights within the church. They also contain claims of homosexuality within the Vatican. It is also one week before the Pope retires and preparations are underway to find a replacement. However, before he retires he has to review a report on homosexuality and infighting within the Vatican. Alan Pizzey a senior news correspondent with CBS reports from Rome the details of the Pope’s retirement and steps to follow in the replacement process. First, Pope Benedict will issue a decree declaring the seat vacant. The cloak to be won by the new Pope is already prepared. The cardinals would have to retreat to choose one among them to wear it. The outside world was curious to know the reasons why the Pope is resigning unlike the predecessor who died in the position. They are also eager to find out what he will do about the reports of homosexuality and infighting within the Vatican. Among the catholic community majority are the Mexican people. Thus, the cardinals from the region are preparing to go for the retreat. In a religious ceremony, they pray and praise to God. The leaked reports had influenced negative publicity of the church. It is also suspected that the pope may be resigning due to this reason. I rate the news material at 4. The lead story is not subjective enough since it ignores the leaked materials and concentrates on the process of replacing a pope. However, it explores other aspects surrounding the resignation of the pope and his operations in the last weekend as the Vatican.